Variety Reports that as part of the agreement, Neal Street will bring two film projects to Focus Features that could ultimately be directed by Mendes. Mendes most recently directed "Revolutionary Road" and has yet to announce any future directorial film plans. The first film is a screen adaptation of the 1960 John Williams novel "Butcher's Crossing," in which a man heads to the American Midwest to participate in one of the last great Buffalo hunts of the 1870's.
Also forthcoming will be a film of George Eliot's Victorian novel "Middlemarch." Andrew Davis penned the screenplay about the inhabitants of an 1830's English community.
Sam Mendes made his Broadway directorial debut with the critically acclaimed revival of Cabaret – earning the 1998 Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. As artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, Mendes earned Tony Awards for presenting the Broadway productions of Take Me Out and The Real Thing. He most recently staged the 2003 revival of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters. For his directorial film debut, Mendes received the Academy Award for Best Director on "American Beauty." He is also a co-producer and director of the transatlantic Bridge Project, which staged productions of The Cherry Orchard and The Winter's Tale at BAM last season. Future Bridge Project productions include Three Sisters and As You Like It, also under Mendes' direction.